Protesters in Israel. ABC News/AP.
Mass protests have intensified in Israel after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was sacked by Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu after Gallant criticized proposed changes to the judicial system. ABC News/AP. The law would give the ruling Likud party control over judicial appointments, allow the parliament to overturn Supreme Court rulings and limit judicial review. This has caused massive protests with many in the military threatening to essentially go on strike to protest the law. Minister Gallant said that the law should be tabled due to the deep divisions it was causing. The firing of Gallant has caused even more unrest. The State Department of the United States has denied accusations form Netanyahu's son that the CIA has been involved in the protests.
My Comment:
Much like the protests in France (and previous protests in Canada and the United States), the people of Israel are revolting against government overreach. Unlike France though, Israel doesn't have a long history of rioting and it's happening at an extremely vulnerable time for Israel.
After all, their efforts to ally with the gulf states against Iran have totally fallen apart. Thanks to China the Saudis are warming their relations with Iran and are no longer going to be interested in fighting a war against Iran.
And they no longer have a friend in the United States. Biden hates Netanyahu for some reason, probably because he is conservative and has been extremely critical of him. To the point that I don't think Netanyahu's son is wrong that the US government is funding and supporting the protests.
Keep in mind that Israel's Likud party hardly has a mandate. Their has been five elections in four years in Israel and they have had an absurd time getting a ruling coalition together. The country has had a hugely difficult time getting a government together so it's fairly surprising that Likud would be pushing for this so hard.
As for the law itself, I have mixed feelings. I know that the judiciary can get out of control and I can see why you would want to do this.
But the problems far out way the benefits as far as I am concerned. Even ignoring the widespread public outrage for a bit, the problem seems obvious. Don't call up what you can't put down. There is always a risk that by eroding norms like this you will be punished by your own actions once you are out of power. The Democrats here learned this by getting rid of the filibuster and Republicans and Trump pushed through a huge number of judges. The same thing could happen here.
As for the outrage, it makes sense. Much like France outraged everyone by bypassing the legislature, Israel is doing the same thing with the judiciary. People don't like it when the government rams stuff through without any consent from the governed.
What will happen? Who knows. Like I said, these protests are the largest Israel has had already and firing the Defense Minster is a major escalation. I don't even think he said anything unreasonable either, he's right that this is dividing the country. It's very possible that Benjamin Netanyahu could be out of power soon...
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